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The 30-Minute Interview David T. Ennis
Mr. Ennis, 44, is the founder and president of the Daten Group, a real estate development and consulting company based in New York. Before starting the company in 2001, he worked as a financial analyst for the Blumenfeld Development Group.
Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
Interview conducted and condensed by
VIVIAN MARINO
Q. The company name “Daten” comes from your own name, right?
A. It’s a little bit of a puzzle, and some people are like, “David, I’m not seeing it.” But people who are good visually look at my name and they see it right away.
Q. So what kind of year was 2012 for Daten?
A. 2012 was an amazing year. It was a year of growth. The market actually took off and exceeded our expectations, which toward the end of the year made it harder to acquire new projects because it got so hot. Good for the properties we own and bad for finding and buying hidden gems.
Q. Will you be shifting your search then to areas outside New York City?
A. We’re going to look in different places. Our latest acquisition is three parcels in White Plains, which is an emerging market. It’s a submarket of the New York City market and it has great train transportation into the city. We bought three vacant parcels to build three residential buildings there.
Q. Where does that project stand?
A. It’s three separate locations within five minutes of each other. They’re all around the downtown White Plains area that’s been redeveloped.
We closed on the first parcel about a few weeks ago; we’re buying the second parcel in a month; and the third parcel we’ll close on in the next three months. We’ll start construction on all three — to do a combined 100 units over the three parcels of moderate-to-luxury residential rental — in July.
The rents there will be $2,000 to $3,000, depending on the size unit.
Q. Daten seems focused on residential these days.
A. Yes. It’s 75 to 80 percent residential.
Q. What’s the status of your project at 72 Poplar Street in Brooklyn?
A. Fourteen family-size condos. This property was vacant for about two decades — it was a former police precinct. We bought it in 2011.
The first 12 months after acquisition was about getting approvals, and then we ultimately got our permits and started construction in July 2012.
We’re taking off an entire floor — it’s a three-story building — lowering it and rebuilding the third floor and then adding a fourth and fifth.
Plus, we’re turning a detached garage on the property into a three-story town house.
Q. The station house is historic.
A. The existing building was built in 1912 and it’s quite a presence on that street. We’re going to restore the facade in the traditional character that it was built and the interiors will be a modern reflection of this very storied building.
Q. How will you price the condominium units?
A. Based on where the market is at and comparables around the corner, the pricing is going to be north of $1,000 a square foot — which is completely impressive in how Brooklyn has evolved.
Q. Where do you stand with your building at 1462 Second Avenue?
A. We bought that in February 2011. It’s currently under renovation. We’re creating Euro-style apartments in a five-story walk-up to make it a boutique, funky building, bringing a little bit of downtown flavor to the Upper East Side. There will be eight residential rentals.
It was a 60-year hardware store that closed down in the recession, so we’re completely renovating it and bringing in the Meatball Shop. They’re going to be open in March and the apartments will be done in March as well. They’re large one-bedrooms. We’re reinvigorating old-style railroad apartments, repurposing them.
Q. Do you have anything else in the pipeline?
A. We’re actively looking at several other projects in Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan and even Queens for acquisitions. We’re looking in Long Island City and all the way out east.
Q. You started out in Miami. Would you ever consider investing there again?
A. I’ve looked in Miami and I’ve been asked to invest in development projects in South Beach. I’d say it’s 50-50: of the projects I passed on, half were successful and the other 50 percent tanked. That’s the Florida market, and that’s why you have to be really careful.
That’s what I love about the New York market — if you buy it right, our feeling is New York is a sure market.
Q. Were you always interested in real estate?
A. I was either going to be an airplane pilot or go into real estate — I decided that at the age of 13. So I started taking flying lessons at about 13 years old. A neighbor owned the plane, so he taught me how to fly.
I never got my license because I decided to go into real estate.